Nickel Plate Road #765

I can't think of a better way to spend a summer afternoon than chasing the Nickel Plate #765 through the flat countryside of eastern Ohio. Ben Wells and I left a morning with the New Castle Industrial and traveled northwest towards Ashtabula, following the Norfolk Southern secondary. About halfway there, we found an excellent crossing near Wayne, Ohio, and decided to stay put and wait it out. Other fans began showing up. Finally the Twitter feed announced "10 miles south of Ashtabula," and I knew we would soon be in business. Sure enough, about 3 miles north of our crossing, her headlight appeared up the tangent and we all got in our places. 765 rolled by at a modest pace and with great ease. This being a ferry move to put her in place for weekend excursions, she had half a dozen gons in tow full of coal, followed by the excursion consist complete with an HEP boxcar on the end providing hotel power. Norfolk Southern had them limited to 25 mph all the way, which made chasing them from crossing to crossing a real breeze. We made several stops and caught her several times before calling it a night north of Hubbard. She is a terrific machine, and the Fort Wayne group has her running like a fine watch. I was struck by how smooth and crisp she sounded as nearly coasted by us at every crossing. I always thought the Lima "Berks" had great lines. All business. 765 is no exception.

On a rainy, cloudy, fall Saturday, my daughter and I made the trek into Ohio to catch a ride on #765 during one of the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad's Steam in the Valley events. In every other respect, it was a terrible day for railfanning: cold, wet, and overcast. Even so, I was glad to finally meet the Big Berk after so many years of only seeing her run in videos and pose in pictures. Despite the lousy weather, I detrained at the tiny Boston Mill depot for two photo runbys, then came back to the area again on her second trip and caught two more later in the day. No doubt about it, she is one impressive machine.